Gettysburg May Very Well Be, Acre For Acre, The Most Haunted Place in America
Written by Carol Nesbitt
Over the years since the Civil War battle in 1863, stories of scores of sightings, stranger than reality, have emerged from the quaint houses and gentle fields in and around the town of Gettysburg, PA: Stories of sightings of these soldiers, moving again in battle lines, across the fields where they once marched. . . and died; tales of visions through a rip in time into the horrible scene of a Civil War hospital; whispers of a look at men long dead held eternally captive by duty. These apparitions and more come back to remind us, in one way or another that they are not to be forgotten for what they did here. . . 
In 1994, Mark Nesbitt started the first ghost walk in Gettysburg, The Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours (registered trademark). Armed with tales from his Ghosts of Gettysburg book series - and with a few that aren’t in the books - guides dressed in Civil War period attire take visitors on evening tours through sections of town that were bloody battlefields 13 decades ago; through night-darkened streets to houses and buildings where it’s not as quiet as it should be; to sites on the old Pennsylvania College campus where the slain once lay in rows, and the wounded suffered horribly, waiting to become corpses themselves; to cemeteries where the dead lie. . . sometimes not so peacefully.
The Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours offers the visitor a choice of ghostly tours. The Baltimore Street walking tour starts from 271 Baltimore Street, Tour Headquarters, and focuses on the northern end of the town of Gettysburg. The Carlisle Street walking tour also begins at Tour Headquarters, but its focus is the southern end of town and the Gettysburg College campus. The Seminary Ridge walking tour starts at the Lutheran Theological Seminary1 and contains stories whose focus is that particular end of town. For those visitors who are interested in experiencing ghostly happenings beyond the town of Gettysburg, there is a bus tour on the weekends.
To purchase tickets, or for additional tour information, visit our website at www.ghostsofgettysburg.com, stop by our shop in Gettysburg at 271 Baltimore Street, or call (717) 337-0445. The Ghosts of Gettysburg book shop also has the largest selection of regional paranormal and ghost books in Gettysburg.
There is plenty to do in Gettysburg both before, and after, your ghost tour! The National Park Visitors Center will appeal to any history buff. Their facility includes an “Electric Map” of the battle. For a more comprehensive perspective, you can hire a “Licensed Battlefield Guide” who will take you around the battlefield and step you through the events of the Battle of Gettysburg day by day. A fun alternative for a battlefield tour is the Historic Battlefield Bus Tour - antique Yellowstone Park buses transport you back to those fateful 3 days in July, 1863. There are also horse drawn carriages that provide historical tours of the town of Gettysburg. Make sure your itinerary allows time for a visit to the American Civil War Wax Museum on Steinwehr Avenue.
When you have had your fill of the battlefield, the town of Gettysburg has its own attractions. Explore the area of town around the center square and you’ll find wonderful art galleries, gift shops, antique stores, local artisan shops, and much more.
Gettysburg is the home of some fabulous restaurants, and some are even haunted! If you are interested in eateries with an aura of history, try The Dobbin House Tavern or The Herr Tavern & Publick House. Other places that you’ll want to check out are The Blue Parrot Bistro, The Pub, Mamma Ventura’s, O’Rorke’s Eatery, The Pike, or the Gingerbread Man.
If you find that you just did not see and do everything on your list and you decide to spend the night, not a problem! Gettysburg has many delightful Bed & Breakfast establishments, as well as the standard list of motels. The Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau (800-337-6274, www.gettysburg.com ) is a great place to start.
(1) The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg has agreed to allow the tours on campus as a source of entertainment and a way to present local folklore. In so doing, the Seminary does not endorse the information presented as necessarily factual history.
